Editing President of the United States (section)

=== Convening and adjourning Congress ===
To allow the government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered by [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause_3:_Extraordinary_sessions_and_prorogation_of_Congress|Article II, Section{{nbsp}}3]] of the Constitution to call a [[special session]] of one or both houses of Congress. Since [[John Adams]] first did so in 1797, the president has called the full Congress to convene for a special session on 27 occasions. [[Harry S. Truman]] was the most recent to do so in July 1948, known as the [[Turnip Day Session]]. In addition, prior to ratification of the [[Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twentieth Amendment]] in 1933, which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from December to January, newly [[United States presidential inauguration|inaugurated]] presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties. In practice, the power has fallen into disuse in the modern era as Congress now formally remains in session year-round, convening pro forma sessions every three days even when ostensibly in recess. Correspondingly, the president is authorized to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this power.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/96/convening-of-congress |title=Essays on Article II: Convening of Congress |last=Forte |first=David F. |website=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution |publisher=Heritage Foundation |access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Steinmetz |first=Katy |date=August 10, 2010 |title=Congressional Special Sessions |url=https://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2009480,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref>